Phonograph



L. P. VA'LIQUET.

PHONOGRAPH.

APPUCATION FILED OCT. 9,1916- 1,4 ()6,249 Patented Feb. 14, 1922.

jaw/27F UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE.

LOUIS P. VALIQUET, OF ELYRI A, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GENERAL PHONOGRAPHMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ELYRIA, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

PHONOGRAPH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 14, 1922.

Application filed October 9, 1916. Serial No. 124,490.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, LOUIS P. VALI UET, acitizen of the United States, residing at Elyria, in the county ofLorain and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Phonographs; and I do hereby declare the following to befull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to phonographs and more particularly toimprovements in the sound conducting means or resonators employed insuch instruments. One of the obj ects of my invention is to provide, indevices of the class which I have mentioned, improved connecting means,between various parts of the sound conducting means or resonator, forjoining together these parts so as to makeit impossible to -accidentallyseparate them, but which at the same time enables one who seeks to partthem to be so readily and conveniently, and to reassemble them asreadily and conveniently, thereby, among other things, greatlyfacilitating packing and shipping of the machines. I also provide meanswhich can be cheaply and conveniently manufactured, and which insures nodefective parts in the particular elements of the machines involved. p

In a great many of the phonographs now used, the sound tube is dividedup into two portions, the main part or stationary part being either aportion of the frame or rigidly attached to the frame in some manner,and a second part, frequently spoken of as the tone arm and hereinreferred to as the sound conveyor or tone arm, is connected to the mainportion or amplifier at one end and to the sound box at the other. Thesound conveyor is made to swing across the face of the record and inmany types of phonographs, up and down in a plane perpendicularto therecord.

I am aware that bayonet joint slots and pins have been provided forconnecting the tone arm to the stationary part of the amph'fier, but sofar as I am informed, it has always been found necessary to leave onearm of the bayonet slot open at the end, so that the pin may beaccidentally withdrawn and the sound tube disconnected from the machine.This is a very objectionable feature, especially in small machines,which are operated. frequently by children or other inexperiencedpersons who are apt accidentally or intentionally to disconnect the tonearm with the delicate sound box from the machine and injure the delicateparts of the sound box, or dent or otherwise injure the tone arm.

By my invention I provide apparatus of the class described in whichthere is no ralttle or loose play between the tone arm and the part ofthe machine to which it is connected. achieve this last mentioned objectwithout interfering with the freedom of movement of the tone arm in themanner and directions desired. In other words, the tone arm may befreely swung up and down and inazimuth. through. the desired ranges toperform its functions, and there will be no rattle at the pivot duringthe movement of the arm when it is at rest or when the phonograph is inoperation.

The objects of my invention which I have named and others will appearand the inven tion, will be better understood, I believe, from adescription of an embodiment of the invention.-

Fig. 1 is a section through a portion of an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the bushing shown at 5 in Fig. 1. h

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View of the collar and throat.

Fig. 4 is a detail. I

Fig. 5 is a section through the line 44 of Fig. 1..

Referring now to the drawing and to the embodiment of the inventionshown therein, at 7 is shown the frame of a phonograph and at 8 aportion of the amplifier or resonator. At 9 is shown a sound conveyor ortone arm. The sound conveyor 9 and the amplifier are connected togetherthrough means including a throat, here shown as a hollow bushing 5,which, also constitutes a part of the sound conducting means. The otherend of the sound tube 9, as is well understood, carries the sound box 9stylus support 9 and stylus 9 In the form' shown, the top wall of themain portion of the amplifier 8 is formed by the frame top 11,. which isprovided with an. opening 12. The bushing 5 is provided with a flange 13about its bottom, through which it is connected to the top of the frameby suitable means, such as screws applied at the openings ld. Thebushing 5 is also provided with a collar 13 which fits within the open 7ing 12. Slots 15 are formed in the top of the bushing 5, preferably bycutting away the edge for a certain distance, as shown in Figs. and 3.These slots are best of substantially equal length and positioneddiametrically opposite each other.

The inner end of the sound tube 9 in the embodiment shown is providedwith a 'collar 16 from which pins 1.7 project. In the embodiment shown astraight rod 18 extends across the sound arm and through openings 19therein, and projects at 17' from both sides of the collar 16. lVhen theapparatus is assembled, these pins are in the slot'15.

Means are provided for retaining the 7 sound tube in position whenassembled, here shown as a collar 20, which is connected to the top ofthe bushing 5 by some suitable means, such as threads 21, here shown asformed on the interior of the collar 20 and other threads 22 on theexterior of the top of the bushing 5, the threads 21 and 22 beingadapted to co-operate. The top of the collar 20 is turned inwardly toform a flange 23, which fits close about the collar 16 and prevents,through the co-operation with the pin 17, the removal of the sound tube.

I prefer to cut a recess 25 on the interior of the member 20 between thethreads 21 and the collar 23, in which the ends of the pins 17 arehoused.

The margins 15,, 15 of the upper part of the neck 5 are left upon theedge of the neck and serve to hold the collar 16 within the neck (asshown best in Figs. 1 and 5) and prevent rattling of the parts. The eX-'terior wall of the collar 16 is curved and its maximum diameter shouldbe substantially the same as that of the bore of the neck 5 at its. top.I prefer to curve the outside surface of the collar 16 so that it shallform a zone of a sphere whose diameter is that of the maximum diameterof the collar. lVith this arrangement the tone arm may be raised andlowered and turned freely in the horizontal, through the desired rangesto performits functions, and yet the joint will be so tight that therewill be. no play and no rattle. 7 g V The apparatus shown in the drawingmay be assembled as follows: The collar 20 is slipped over the sound boxend of the sound tube before the sound box is placed thereon. The soundtube is placed upon the bushing 5 with the pins 17 in the slots 15 andthe collar 20 is screwed down upon the bushing 5, the threads 21 and 22co-operating to fasten the partstogether. When in this'position, thetone arm may be swung in azimuth throughout an angle determined by thelength of the slots 15, whose length, of course, may be varied asdesired. The pins, of course, will engage the shoulders 15, at the endsof the slots and limit the movew'ardly turned flange on said collarfitting ment of the tone arm. Thus assembled, the sound tube may berocked inthe vertlcal through the desired-angle.

It will be seen that the parts employed are very simple, very easilymanufactured, and no special effort or care must be'taken to determineaccuracy in the fitting of the parts. also, the sound tube can be movedthrough the desired angles without any danger of being accidentallyseparated from the machine proper. In fact, it will be impossible toaccidentally disconnect theparts, whereas, if it is desired todisconnect them, it can be done very quickly and very conveniently.

l; have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention andcertain details for the purpose of better explaining my invention. It,will be understood by those skilled in the art that numerous andextensive departures may be made from the form and details withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

1. In a phonograph, the combination of an amplifier and a sound conveyorand means to 90 connect said parts together, including a hollow bushinghaving portions of its top edge cut away to form slots, pins on thesound conveyor placed in said slots when the parts are assembled, acollar and means to connect the collar to thetop of the bushing-aninover the top of the pins when the parts are assembled and closing theslots in the top of the bushing. i I

2. in a phonograph, the combination of an amplifier and a soundconveyor, a hollow bushing connected'at one end to the body portion ofthe amplifier and at the other end to the sound conveyor, said hollowbushing having its top edge, cut away in places to form slots, saidslots being'diametrically opposite each other, pins placed in said slotswhen the'parts are assembled, a collar and means to connect the collarto thetop of the bushing, and an inwardly turned flange on the top ofthe collarextending over the ends of the pins when the parts areassembled, retaining said pins in position and closing the tops of theslots.

3. In a phonograph, the combination of a tone arm, a sound box on oneend of the tone arm, collar on the other end of the tone arm of greaterdiameter than the maximum part of the tone arm, the outside surface ofsaid collar being curved with the maximum diameter at the center, ahollow bushing for connecting said tone arm to said phonograph, the borein the bushing being of substantially the same diameter as the maximumdiameter of the collar on the tone arm,the upper edge of the bushingbeing cut away to form slots, the upper edge of the bushing between theends of the slots forming arcshaped lugs whose inner surfaces engage the13 outer surface of the collar and prevent its rattling in the bushing,pins projecting from the collar on the tone arm into said slots andmeans to cover the tops of the slots and the ends of the pins to retainthe tone arm on the bushing.

a. In a phonograph, a movable tubular tone arm having a verticalsection, a stationary tubular extension of the tone arm into which theend of the movable arm telescopically projects and in which stationaryarm the movable arm rotates about a vertical axis, bearing membersprojecting radially from opposite sides of the movable arm in a planeperpendicular to the stationary arm and extending into the stationaryarm be yond the inner Walls of the stationary arm, notches in the end ofsaid stationary arm for receiving said bearing members, said notcheshaving sides upon which the said members rest and slide in the segmentof a circle about the perpendicular axis of the stationary arm Wheneverthe movable arm is moved about its vertical axis. and a cap for thestationary arm threads for holding the cap in place on the end of thestationary arm and closing the open sides of said notches to lock thebearing members in the said notches. In Witness whereof, I have hereuntosigned my name this 25 day of September, 1916.

LOUIS P. VALIQUET.

